Broncos
Denver Broncos Football
Broncos lose first game of the season to the Colts
Oct 21st
Manning loses shootout to Andrew Luck
INDIANAPOLIS — It almost seemed right. Just as he had done so many times before, quarterbackPeyton Manning had the opportunity to engineer a game-winning drive at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Only this time, it would be for the opposing team. But on the first play of the pivotal fourth-quarter series, his team down just six points, Manning threw an interception after his arm was hit when he released the ball.
That allowed Indianapolis to pull out to a nine-point lead, and by the time Denver pulled back to within one possession, it was too late, as an onside kick attempt failed with 12 seconds remaining in the game. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck took a knee to seal a 39-33 victory, dropping the Broncos to 6-1 on the season.
“We still had a chance there at the end,” Manning said. “We did fight and hung in there. We can learn from it. We certainly have to improve from this game because we weren’t as sharp execution-wise as we’d like.”
The Broncos had their chances.
Even after Manning’s interception allowed the Colts to make it 39-30, the Broncos offense responded quickly, driving all the way down to the Indianapolis 2-yard line. But a Ronnie Hillman fumble — the third turnover of the evening for the team — gave the ball back to Indy and allowed the Colts to run 1:35 off the clock and force Denver to use all three of its timeouts.
A 47-yard Matt Prater field goal moved the Broncos back within six, but the ensuing onside kick with just 12 seconds left on the clock failed.
“Anytime you turn the ball over (three) times, especially on the road, it’s going to be tough,” Head Coach John Fox said.
Earlier in the game, Manning fumbled when his arm was hit, but the ball was recovered out of bounds in the end zone — which meant it was a safety, but didn’t count against the turnover margin.
“That one was, among others, a couple of plays where we gave them some points and some field position,” Manning said. “Ultimately that was just too tough to overcome.”
The Broncos fell behind by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, but were able to claw back into the game thanks to key defensive stops down the stretch.
“I thought defensively we settled down,” Fox said. “We started playing smarter, tougher football and executed better in the second half.”
Key in the comeback was a forced fumble by safety Duke Ihenacho. He ripped the ball away from Colts running back Trent Richardson and recovered it himself, a takeaway the Broncos offense converted into a touchdown.
In the first half, the Colts scored 26 points. In the second, they were held to half that.
But the Broncos couldn’t quite get all the way back on top, and mistakes were costly. What stood out to Manning is the fact that, even with the mistakes, the team “still somehow had a chance to win that game.”
“I’d like to have seen it go to a two-point game down there toward the end and seen what would have happened,” Manning said. “Never quite got to that point.”
The Broncos got the Sunday Night Football scoring started when Manning found wide receiver Eric Decker — who finished with a game-high 150 receiving yards — for a 17-yard touchdown strike.
Denver fell behind 10-7, but a 12-yard score from Manning to tight end Julius Thomas put the club back ahead 14-10. Even after the safety, the Broncos still led, but a 20-yard touchdown from Luck to his fullback Stanley Havili in the second quarter gave Indianapolis a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Six three-and-outs didn’t help Denver’s cause.
“I think they kind of kept us off balance a little bit and we weren’t able to get into a rhythm for a while,” Thomas said. “That’s not us, that’s not our identity and we have to clean that up.”
Linebacker Von Miller — who made his regular-season debut in the contest and finished with two tackles, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries — said the toughest part is knowing the team didn’t put its best foot forward.
“I think all phases of the ball, we could have done better,” he said. “We could have had a better effort, but that’s part of it. Get back in the lab, start working and get ready for Washington coming up.”
See video highlights:
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Bleacher Report on the Broncos/Ravens game
Jan 14th
Here on Jan. 12, 2013, it will forever be known as the day that the Ravens upset the heavily favored Broncos in double overtime, 38-35.
This was a painful loss. It wasn’t just a painful loss because the Broncos were heavily favored. It wasn’t because they were the No. 1 seed. It wasn’t because they had home-field advantage.
No. It was because the Broncos blew a game that they had won. It would have been one thing if the Broncos lost this game in the fashion that the Green Bay Packers lost their game later on in the night to the Niners, where the Niners dominated the Packers.
In a weird way, this loss would have been less painful. Am I saying that’s the route that I would have preferred the Ravens-Broncos game went? No.
However, this has to be the worst loss that I’ve seen the Broncos suffer in a big game. Super Bowl blowout losses against NFC powerhouse teams in the ’80s are one thing; losing to the second-year ’96 Jaguars as Super Bowl favorites is about the only playoff loss that I can think of that is as painful as this one.
The Broncos had the game won.
Denver was up 35-28 with 1:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense took over from their 23-yard line with no timeouts remaining.
On a 3rd-and-3 with very little hope of tying the game, Flacco and the Ravens managed to do the impossible by having a little skill, luck and bad football IQ coincide to make a great play.
Flacco heaved up a desperation pass to Jacoby Jones into double coverage. Tony Carter had Jones underneath and for whatever reason, Rahim Moore did the same. Instead of getting behind Jones to defend him high, Moore went underneath and Jones and badly misplayed the ball.
Moore did not come close to batting that ball. He whiffed big time and it looks even worse on the numerous replays you’re bound to sit through for the rest of your lives.
That wasn’t the worst of it.
The worst of it was, that for whatever reason, whether that’s due to natural instincts, lack of time to properly assess the play and situation at hand or nerves, Moore made the wrong decision in going underneath Jones to defend the pass.
If Rahim simply goes over Jones, even if Jacoby makes the catch, Moore would have tackled him inbounds 30 yards before Jones even gets to the end zone and the clock runs down to the point where the Ravens have one or two plays to run off before the end of the game.
What do you call that play?
A lack of football IQ. It was just a bad play by Moore—not knowing the situation at hand. He went all-out for that deflection and he got burned.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Broncos then headed into overtime. They played hard for nearly a full overtime period before Peyton Manning ended up throwing the game-losing interception.
Since I gave Moore a lot of flack for his one play that cost Denver the game, I have no choice to do the same for Manning.
I can excuse Peyton for the first-quarter interception because it wasn’t his fault. Did he try to fit the pass into a tight space? Yeah. But Eric Decker did get touched before the ball got to him which led to the deflection that led to Corey Graham’s interception return for a touchdown.
Can I forgive Peyton’s third-quarter fumble with the Broncos threatening to go up by two possessions for the second time in the game, only to fumble it away and have the Ravens march down the field to tie up the game at 21-all?
Somewhat.
Can I forget about Peyton’s interception by Corey Graham where Manning was rolling to his right and threw across his chest to the middle of the field only to have it intercepted?
No.
I will defend Peyton until the day that he proves he’s no longer the quarterback for the Broncos. He had one of the finest seasons of his career, led Denver to one of the best regular seasons in franchise history and has made this team a legit title contender.
I realize that as Broncos fans, some of us will get defensive over the criticism of Peyton’s performance in this game, largely summed up and highlighted by his interception to Graham in overtime that led to Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal.
But the criticism is simply justified.
Did the Broncos lose this game because of one bad bone-headed move by Moore, followed by another bone-headed throw by Peyton? No.
Hell, Champ Bailey got burned three times by Torrey Smith. Two of them ended up as touchdowns, one was an overthrow by Flacco that would have been a touchdown if it wasn’t for the overthrow.
The defense got absolutely no pressure on Flacco which gave him all of the time that he needed to complete the three long touchdown passes. In fact, they got one sack on the day. It didn’t happen until overtime.
Having said that, when have you ever seen Peyton throw a pass like that?
Never.
It’s one thing when you have a guy like Brett Favre—the career interceptions leader and a guy notoriously known for taking unneeded risks—throw the game-costing interception in the ’09 NFC Championship versus the Saints, which was similar to Peyton’s throw versus the Ravens.
It’s Brett Favre for God’s sake. He does that in both the regular season and the postseason. Favre went through three straight seasons where the last pass he threw in each season was an interception (’07-’09, which ended his team’s playoff fortunes in each season).
But to have Peyton throw a pass that not even a rookie quarterback would make?
How can you explain that? How can you defend that?
There is simply no explaining it. You can’t defend it.
And so the Broncos enter the 2013 NFL offseason having wasted a bright regular season by choking on the biggest of stages—the NFL postseason.
It wasn’t a one-man loss. It wasn’t a two-man loss. It was an entire team’s loss.
I laid the criticism on Moore and Peyton. Even threw in Bailey and the defense in there. What about coach John Fox?
I was ready to criticize him for the 3rd-and-7 on Denver’s last offensive drive before Jacoby Jones scored on the game-tying touchdown, where the Broncos would end up running the football on a safe play with Ronnie Hillman before punting the football.
I mean why not give the potential NFL MVP a chance to win the game for you by throwing the football?
However, the icing on the cake was with 31 seconds left and two timeouts remaining. With the Broncos taking over at their 20-yard line, here was Peyton Manning—taking a knee to end regulation.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t the Ravens riding at an all-time high of emotions after Jones’ miraculous 70-yard touchdown run and catch? Was their confidence not at an all-time high after Flacco had completed three 30-plus-yard touchdown passes throughout the game?
Why even take the chance of heading into regulation when Baltimore’s offense had its way with Denver’s defense all throughout the game?
In a move that will be second-guessed until the day that John Fox and Peyton Manning lead the Broncos to a third Super Bowl title, Fox chose to run out the clock and take his chances in overtime.
Yet again, living up to his billing as a safe coach.
It backfired on the Broncos. Just like every move they made in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.
What is there to say about this 38-35 double-overtime loss?
It is what it is.
The Broncos lost this game and can’t look at it any other way. If the Broncos want to win a Super Bowl in the Manning era, they need to not only play better, but use this game as a learning and motivational tool for championship success next season.
If the ’97 and ’98 Broncos can do it, I expect the ’13 Broncos to do the same.
If they can’t, Jan. 12, 2013, will be a date remembered by Broncos fans for a long time.
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For all of the wrong reasons.
Broncos John Elway talks about the upcoming playoff game against the Ravens
Jan 11th
The Broncos finished the season on an 11-game winning streak for a 13-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC going into the playoffs. It was a year that ranked among the best regular seasons in franchise history, but those accomplishments will mean little if they are not followed by a strong postseason run. The players’ incentive for all their hard work throughout the year boils down to what happens over the next few weeks.
“Playoff football is exciting, that’s what you play for,” Elway said. “That’s what you start working out in March for and go through training camp to get in the position that we are right now.”
One of the biggest factors in the team’s success has been quarterback Peyton Manning’s record-setting regular season. With that portion of the year complete, Elway said that looking back, he’s been thrilled to see Manning perform so well after missing 2011 due to injury.
“No. 1, I’m happy for Peyton Manning, with the career that he’s had in the NFL and what he’s done for this game, for him to be able to bounce back like he has, I’m happy for him that he’s reached the level that he has again,” Elway said. “He’s pretty close to the Peyton of old. No. 2, I’m thrilled for us, the Broncos, the fact that he’s playing that well because we’re back in that No. 1 seed, back as one of the elite teams in this league. We’re able to go out and start the playoffs this week and compete for a Super Bowl championship. That’s why we play the game and why we work at this game.”
Denver is set for a rematch with the Ravens Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MST at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. In the first meeting of the season between the teams, the Broncos led 31-3 entering the fourth quarter and defeated Baltimore by a final score of 34-17. A key difference going into Saturday’s game is the health of the Ravens defense, which has welcomed back a trio of key contributors who were injured and inactive in Week 15.
“They’re a lot healthier now than they were when we played them,” Elway said. “(Linebacker) Ray Lewis was down, (Dannell) Ellerbe, their other inside linebacker, was down. So they were really banged up the last time we played them. They’re going to be at full strength, or close to full strength, this time.”
The return of those players has made one of Baltimore’s strengths throughout the season – the team’s red-zone defense – even more formidable. The Ravens’ playoff-opening win over Indianapolis in the Wild Card Round was highlighted by a bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort that yielded 25 first downs and 419 yards of total offense but only nine points.
“One thing that they are, and you noticed it last week also, was the fact that down in the red zone, they’re as good as anybody in the league,” Elway said. “I think they’re top 5, if not the best red-zone defense in the league. Last week they gave up three field goals to Indianapolis even though Indianapolis had the ball for 37 minutes. That’s why it’s going to be important for us to not only be good between the 20s, but when you get down in the red zone, we have to get it into the end zone.”
Another significant difference between Saturday’s game and the Week 15 matchup in Baltimore is the venue. Denver will have the advantage of playing in front of a home crowd that helped the Broncos win seven of their eight home games during the regular season.
“It will be great that we’re playing at Sports Authority Field at Mile High with the fans behind us,” Elway said. “It will bring back that great playoff atmosphere, which is great for the fans. We’ve played better at home. We did a better job this year, we’re 7-1 at home. We’re comfortable there and the fans have been great the whole year. But this is a different atmosphere and they’re going to be a big part of it, especially when (the Ravens are) on offense.”
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